Prayer for Restoration

1•Yahweh, remember what has happened to us.

Look, and see our disgrace!a

2Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

our houses to foreigners.

3We have become orphans, fatherless;

our mothers are widows.

4We must pay for the water we drink;

our wood comes at a price.

5We are closely pursued;

we are tired, and no one offers us rest.

6We made a treaty withb Egypt

and with Assyria, to get enough food.c

7Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,

but we bear their punishment.

8Slaves rule over us;d

no one rescues us from their hands.

9We secure our food at the risk of our lives

because of the sword in the wilderness.

10Our skin is as hote as an ovenf

from the ravages of hunger.

11Women are raped in •Zion,

girls in the cities of Judah.

12Princes are hung up by their hands;

elders are shown no respect.g

13Young men labor at millstones;h

boys stumble under loads of wood.

14The elders have left the city •gate,

the young men, their music.i

15Joy has left our hearts;j

our dancing has turned to mourning.

16The crown has fallen from our head.k

Woe to us, for we have sinned.l

17Because of this, our heart is sick;

because of these, our eyes grow dim:m

18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate

and has jackals prowling in it.n

19You, LORD, are enthroned forever;

Your throne endures from generation to generation.o

20Why have You forgotten us forever,p

abandoned us for our entire lives?

21LORD, restore us to Yourself, so we may return;q

renew our days as in former times,

22unless You have completely rejected us

and are intensely angry with us.